The Chicago Sun-Times’ Sunday paper included a syndicated special section produced by a third-party company that included a summer reading list.
The only problem — many of the books on that list do not exist.
The titles — and the book summaries — were dreamed up by artificial intelligence.
The author said Tuesday he used AI to assist his research for the book recommendations and other stories written for the 64-page section, titled “Heat Index: Your Guide to the Best of Summer.” But Chicago-based freelance writer Marco Buscaglia said he failed to fact-check what he gleaned using AI, resulting in misinformation that ended up in the Sun-Times and at least one other major newspaper, the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Buscaglia said he was working for King Features Syndicate, a unit of Hearst, to produce content that is sold to media clients across the country, and he wanted to assume full responsibility for what happened, which exposed the Sun-Times and Philadelphia Inquirer to widespread public mockery.
“Stupidly, and 100% on me, I just kind of republished this list that [an AI program] spit out,” said Buscaglia, a longtime journalist. “Usually, it’s something I wouldn’t do.
“I mean, even if I’m not writing something, I’m at least making sure that I correctly source it and vet it and make sure it’s all legitimate. And I definitely failed in that task.”
Buscaglia said he and others were trying to determine the full extent of the errors that made it into the special section. He added that he did not know which publications had used the content that contained the errors originating from his use of AI.
Hearst did not respond to requests for comment.
Chicago Public Media CEO Melissa Bell told staff Tuesday she was “deeply disappointed that this story distracts from the incredible journalism happening every day at our organization.” The nonprofit Chicago Public Media owns the Sun-Times and public radio station WBEZ.
Bell said in a statement that the reading list in the summer special section “recommended books that do not exist,” and Chicago Public Media was “actively investigating” other content in the section.
“It is unacceptable that this content was inaccurate, and it is equally unacceptable that we did not make it clear to readers that the section was produced outside the Sun-Times newsroom,” Bell said.
She said Sun-Times print subscribers would not be charged for the edition, which was removed from the e-paper version and replaced with a letter to readers from Bell. She said the organization was “reviewing our relationship with this national content partner to ensure that mistakes of this nature no longer happen.”
Bell promised to share more details of the incident promptly.
A spokesman for the Philadelphia Inquirer said it also had published a 56-page summer supplement from King Features last Thursday, and the section included “material generated by AI that is apparently fabricated, outright false or misleading.”
“Using artificial intelligence to produce content, as was apparently the case with some of the Heat Index material, is a violation of our own internal policies and a serious breach,” the Inquirer said in a statement Tuesday.
Buscaglia said he produced all the content for the section and did not know what consequences he would face, but said, “Whatever happens next is something that I’m deserving of.”
Buscaglia added that he regrets how other journalists for the Sun-Times and other media who engage in extensive reporting, fact-checking and editing processes were “catching shrapnel” due to his actions with AI.
The union representing Sun-Times journalists issued a statement calling on Chicago Public Media management “to do everything it can to prevent repeating this disaster” and said readers expect vigorous reporting and fact-checking by journalists.
“This was a syndicated section produced externally without the knowledge of members of our newsroom,” the Sun-Times Guild said. “We’re deeply disturbed that AI-generated content was printed alongside our work.”
The journalists’ union said its members “go to great lengths to build trust with our sources and communities and are horrified by this slop syndication.”
This story was reported, written and edited by members of the Chicago Public Media editorial staff. Under CPM’s protocol, no CPM corporate official or executive leader external to the newsroom reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.
Dan Mihalopoulos is an investigative reporter for WBEZ.
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